Nonskidding device for use on road vehicles



Jan. 19, 1937. w. ERDMANN NONSKIDDING DEVICE FOR USE ON ROAD VEHICLES Filed June 28, 1955 Jmrenior Wilhelm rdmann BB Patented Jan. 1 9, 1937 UNITED STATES ATET OFFICE NONSKIDDING DEVICE FOR USE ON ROAD VEHICLES Wilhelm Erdmann, Munich, Germany 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in nonskid devices for use on road vehicles and refers more particularly to that type of nonskid device in which a road gripping member is mounted on the vehicle in such a manner that it may be lowered into operative position at will when required whereupon, on the occurrence of a tendency to skid the road wheel contacts with and presses the road gripping member into firm grippingcontact with the road surface. The improved device is suited for all kinds of road surfaces, whether these are in a normal and good condition or badly cut up.

The device according to this invention is very simple in construction, light in weight and nevertheless very strong and well able to withstand the forces which come into play when the gripper is in full action. The device is moreover easily controlled from the drivers seat so that during normal running it may be readily raised from its operative position and held against rattling and objectionable noise, but when the state of the road demands its use, the driver may on emergency and without leaving his place rapidly and easily switch the nonskid gripper into full effective operative position.

To attain the ends set forth the improved nonskid device is characterized in that the road gripping member is provided with a projection on the side thereof facing the road wheel and inclines from the plane of the road wheel downwardly and latterly to the road surface.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing as applied to one 35 wheel of a road vehicle. In this drawing:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of one road Wheel with part of the chassis of the vehicle adequate to show the method of suspension of the road gripping member.

Figure 2 is a plan of the same.

Figure 3 is an end elevation showing the road gripping member in the lowered or operative position in which it contacts with the inner side surface of the road wheel.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the road gripping member.

In the form illustrated, one of the rear wheels h of the road vehicle is shown mounted in any usual manner and supporting on springs (not shown) the chassis girder g. The nonskid device comprises a pivoted lever (1 preferably formed of steel tubing, pivoted at b to the chassis girder g and carrying the road gripping member or shoe 0 at its free end. The shoe 0 is provided with an upstanding pressure plate d which forms a side stop or skid on to which the wheel rises on the occurrence of a tendency to skid. The plate d is sufficiently upstanding so that there is no danger of the road wheel h jumping over the shoe 0. The pivot b is located at some considerable distance from the road wheel h so that the shoe c may readily swing in a Vertical plane in the directions indicated by the arrows y and y of Figure l. trolling the nonskid shoe 0 to place it in the raised or inoperative position or the lowered operative position at will a flexible member I or suitable levers may be provided. The control device is connected at a to the pivoted lever a and is operable from the drivers seat.

The shoe 0 is rigidly fixed to the swing lever a as of course also is the side pressure plate (2. The shoe 0 is located on the inner side of the wheel h and has a rounded or wave-shaped projection c on the side thereof facing the wheel and a relatively sharp cutting edge is formed at c where the nonskid member contacts with the road by inclining the projection downwardly and laterally from the plane of the road Wheel h at an angle indicated by the letter or. A spring e interposed between the chassis girder g and the lever a presses the shoe, when in the lowered operative position, against or towards the wheel h and also towards the road surface that is to say the spring e operates in an inclined plane so that its pressure has a lateral component pressing the lever it towards the plane of the Wheel h and a downward component pressing the lever a towards the road surface.

During normal travelling, the nonskid device is held in the raised position, where, owing to the inclined spring operation and the method of pivoting the lever 11., the nonskid device in this raised position may be nested clear of the wheel side face, so that rattling will be prevented. On the occurrence of an emergency the nonskid device is lowered so that it lies close to the side of the wheel It. When any side slip occurs the wheel h rides on to the upper inclined wave surface of the projection 0 thereby with a wedge action pressing the relatively sharp edge 0 against the road surface. In this way the vehicle is held in its proper line of travel somewhat after the manner of a vehicle running on rails.

The nonskid shoe 0 may be fixed permanently to the lever a or the actual road contacting part may, as indicated in the drawing, be a separate and detachable piece. Instead of the road contacting face of the shoe being a single knife edge For conas indicated, the detachable shoe piece may be provided with sharp studs or teeth so as to give a good bite on the road surface more particularly in the case ofheavy transport vehicles.

The characteristic of this improved nonskid device over prior known forms of this type is that the actual wheel load itself, in virtue of the special side projection comes into full effect to press the nonskid gripping member into or on to the surface of the road, so that even on concrete and similar hard road surfaces there is an adequate nonskidding action.

What I claim is:

l. A nonskid device for use on road vehicles, comprising a shoe adapted in operative position to engage the ground surface, said shoe being formed on the side adjacent a wheel with which it cooperates with a rounded projection at all times above the ground surface and providing a surface with which the adjacent wheel may contact to exert a Wedging action on that portion of the shoe engaging the ground surface, said shoe having an upstanding section to prevent the adjacent wheel riding over the shoe when in use.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, including means for movably supporting the shoe and means cooperating with said movable means to compel movement of the shoe toward the groundsurface and toward the adjacent wheel with which it cooperates.

3. A nonskid device for use on road vehicles and having a frame and ground engaging wheels, including a shoe having a relatively sharp ground gripping edge, a projection laterally of the edge and toward the adjacent wheel, said projection being rounded and supported at all times above the ground surface, a safety plate carried by the shoe and extending vertically of the ground engaging edge, said safety plate having a face merging into the upper portion of the rounded projection to receive the wheel in the event the wheel is lifted above the ground surface in the use of the nonskid device, a lever pivotally supported on the frame of the vehicle and carrying the nonskid device, and means intermediate the lever and frame to force the lever and thereby the nonskid device in a direction toward the ground surface and at the same time toward the wheel with which it cooperates.

4. A nonskid device for use on road vehicle and having a frame and ground engaging wheels, including a shoe having a relatively sharp ground gripping edge, a projection laterally of the edge and toward the adjacent wheel, said projection being rounded and supported at all times above the ground surface, a safety plate carried by the shoe and extending vertically of the ground engaging edge, said safety plate having a face merging into the upper portion of the rounded projection to receive the wheel in the event the wheel is lifted above the. ground surfacein the use of the nonskid device, a lever pivotally supported on the frame of the vehicle and carrying the nonskid device, means intermediate the lever and frame to force the lever and thereby the nonskid device in a direction toward the surface and at the same time toward the wheel with which it cooperates, and a manually controlled element for selectively preventing operation of said means.

WILHELM ERDMANN. 

